Bath Attractions

Sometimes fresh, clean water is hard for a bird to find. You can make a bird's day simply by offering a drink and a bath.

Parent birds will often bring their babies to the bath after they fledge and show them where it is. Like the baby robin getting its first bath.

Water will actually attract more species of birds than feeders will. Birds such
as wrens, catbirds, and waxwings, who eat insects or fruit, don't visit most feeders.

But a birdbath attracts all kinds of birds. Bluebirds, robins, catbirds, warblers and thrushes. We've even watched screech owls drinking from a birdbath right in town at dawn.

Put your birdbath in your
garden, and the birds will find it quickly. We took the photo at left, of bluebirds and cedar waxwings, 15 minutes after we first filled our homemade birdbath. We hollowed out a shallow basin in a section of a pine log. It was so heavy that we had to roll it into place. And it was rough, but it was a major hit with the birds.

It was a hit with us, too. Watching birds at the birdbath brings great happiness to a home. It's one of the easiest ways to bring birds
up close, where the whole family can get a really good look and enjoy their beauty.

What kind of birdbath is best?

Shallow
No deeper than three inches at the center.
It should be even shallower at the edge, so that a bird can ease
its way in. Many birdbaths are way too deep. If you have one that's too deep, you can put rocks in it to raise the bottom. However, it will require you to work a little harder to keep the water clean.

Rough bottomed
Birds don't want to lose their footing. They don't like a glazed, slippery
bottom. Cement is good, but it's heavy and hard to handle. Some of the new fiber-and-resin baths are amazingly lightweight, and they have a rougher texture, that makes birds feel secure.

Drippy or sprinkly
The plink or splash of moving water is pure invitation
to birds. It dramatically increases the number of species that
visit a birdbath. For example, hummingbirds would never wade
into the bath the way a robin does, because hummingbirds bathe only in flight.
But I have watched hummers zipping back and forth through the
drips, timing their flights so that they catch a water drop on
their backs on each pass.

Sun power

There are also baths available now with solar-powered spray features, such as the Solar Spa bath shown at right.

We have one of these at the Birdwatching Dot Com garden, and we love to watch the birds come visit it.

To upgrade a regular birdbath to a moving-water feature, arrange a garden hose so that its water trickles or drips into the bath.

You can turn a still-water birdbath into a live-water bath by putting an inexpensive Water Wiggler in it. This is the same unit that makes the Water Rippling Birdbath work, but it's just the wiggler part. You put it in your own birdbath.

Some people make a 1/2-inch hole in the bottom of a bucket and plug it with a bit of cloth, and suspend the bucket over the birdbath. The dripping water makes plinking sounds that birds can't resist. You can also install a small
spray fountain designed for birdbaths. And we've seen a solar spray pump kit that you can add to an existing bath.

Where should a birdbath be located?

Not
where cats can hide.
Cats like to lie in wait beneath shrubbery
or behind a concealing object and then pounce on the birds when
they're wet and can't fly well. So put your birdbath at least
five to ten feet from such hiding places. Give the birds a chance
to see the cat coming.

With an escape route.
The ideal location is under some
branches that hang down within two or three feet of the bath.
A wet bird can flutter a few feet up to the safety of the leaves.

On a pedestal.

It's easy to see from the house, easy
to clean, and somewhat safer from predators. If you locate your bath on the ground, it's important for the birds to have overhanging branches.

Within reach of a hose.

Make your birdbath easy to
clean and refill. But locate your birdbath away from your feeding
station, because seeds and droppings would soil the water quickly.
Change the water every few days, or even every day in hot weather.
Dump it out or squirt it out with the hose. I keep a scrub brush
outside with my gardening tools, so that I can brush out any
algae that begins to form.

In view from a window.

Don't forget to put yourself
in the picture. Place the birdbath where you can see it from
indoors, from your desk, dining room, or kitchen sink.

Or locate it in your garden. Nothing is more decorative in a garden than a father bluebird bringing his newly-fledged young and introducing them to the birdath.

A bird in the bath is the soul of enjoyment. The sight of
it, even a chance glimpse through the window, will provide you
too with a splash of happiness.